Today, although the meaning of socialism has changed or it is found to be standing on the margins, the ideal condition of the society and the all round development of the public is found to be in the path of socialism. In the beginning phase of te 21st century, the country?s economic, social, ethical and cultural framework is least compatible with Mahatma Gandhi?s view about development. In this book, which was written nearly 50 years ago, the writer has attracted attention towards the finest aspects of socialism.
The writer has discussed clearly about farmers, labourers, mills, industrialists, bakeries, newspapers, corruption, betting, banking, tax, foreign capital profits, education, elections, population and politics. In this new era, the socialists, intellectuals and the youths should discuss socialism to make a concrete and prosperous picture of changing India. This book can work as a guide along with some ?mool mantras? for them.
Historically, India and South Africa have a lot in common; the migration of indentured and passenger Indians to South Africa, the role and influence of Mahatma Gandhi in the freedom movements, their shared commitment to install democracy in their respective countries, and other such issues. Post-Independence, battling enormous poverty and inequality, these countries have undergone transitions at different points in history in their endeavour to restructure the economy and polity through political projects which are largely elite-driven.
Exclusion, Social Capital and Citizenship shows how though transition always carries the promise of inclusion for social groups inhabiting the margins of society, there is nothing inherently inclusive about the elite-dominated transitions that occurred in South Africa and India. The people of these countries, therefore, have articulated alternate visions of resistance to contest these.
Divided into three sections, this volume analyses whether we can use the prism of one experience to assess another in some other country and the lessons learnt from them through such contextualised comparisons. These and other methodological issues are studied in this collection. The book also describes how diasporic Indians deal with their minority status in post-apartheid South Africa; the intellectual resources that the Muslim minority groups in India employ to articulate their identity and assert their citizenship; and redress policies for groups previously disadvantaged on the basis of race in South Africa and caste in India.
Bringing together sociologists from both South Africa and India, this volume is a must-read for students and scholars of sociology, diaspora studies and political science.
Understanding Contemporary India: Critical Perspectives brings together contributions from scholars and teachers of the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi. This Reader examines the peculiarities of Indian democracy the character of its political institutions and patterns of governance and the remarkable paradoxes that co-exist in what is easily the most diverse society in the world perceived from whatever angle one chooses socially, culturally, geo ethnically, politically and intellectually.
The widespread belief that India is an ‘emerging power on the world stage cannot hide the fact that India faces many grave problems and difficulties even as it is equipped with significant material and cultural resources to tackle them. This collectively agreed project deals with the central issues which confront India today.
This volume will be of great interest to not only the undergraduate and graduate students of Delhi University, but also to the students of other universities, as well as to a more general readership keen to understand how practicing political scientists view the various processes shaping contemporary India.
India has one of the fastest growing economies on earth. Over the past three decades, socialism has been replaced by pro-business policies as the way forward. And yet, in this 'new' India, grinding poverty is still a feature of everyday life. Some 450 million people subsist on less than $1.25 per day and nearly half of India's children are malnourished.
In his latest book, Atul Kohli, a seasoned scholar of Indian politics and economics, blames this discrepancy on the narrow nature of the ruling alliance in India that, in its new-found relationship with business, has prioritized economic growth above all other social and political considerations. This thoughtful and challenging book affords an alternative vision of India's rise in the world that its democratic rulers will be forced to come to grips with in the years ahead.
The study of the political philosophy of Mao Zedong has continued to have significance as Maoist groups engage in a range of activities of social transformation in different parts of the world. In post-Mao China the successes of economic reforms are being assessed from various vantage points including the legacies of the Chinese Revolution. There is also a worldwide debate on the path of development pursued in various countries in the Era of globalization and liberalization. Most of these issues were the subject of philosophical and political debates in Mao Zedong’s lifetime. The chapters in this volume deal with the core questions of revolution and social transforming during the past century. The theory of the New Democratic Revolution dealt with the specific condition obtaining in Asian, African and Latin American countries in course of fighting various kinds of feudal and colonial situations.
The creative formulation of Mao Zedong in building united front against the principal enemy remains an important strategic principle. From this Perspective economic, social, Cultural and Political tasks during the period of people’s democratic revolution continue to unfold even today. Mao Zedong raised the qualitative issues on the nature of a socialist society and how productive forces should be developed to end alienation of labour and enlarge the realm of human freedom. This is discussed in the chapter on Continuous Revolution. The mode of understanding global processes and identifying the dynamics of contradiction in the age of imperialism and revolution is discussed keeping in view particularities of a historical situation faced by the people of a region.
Mao’s theoretical writings on contradiction and practice are explained and articulated as laws of dialectics in this study which can be the basis for understanding specific problems and formulating actions programmes in course of political practice. The prologue in this new edition presents a critical and comprehensive view of Maoism in the context of dominant concerns of the twenty-first century and the discourse on Mao in China. This book will be of value not only for students and scholars of social sciences, particularly political science, and philosophy, but also for general readers interested in the study of social development, revolution, socialism, Marxism and modern China.
Assam’s Tribal Indigenous Communities have been subjected to massive violations of their rights to land and other resources. These communities practice jhum (shifting) cultivation in the hilly areas and in the plains, wet cultivation. Highlanders who exclusively practice shifting cultivation have a system of communal ownership of their land, with the clan chief distributing plots of land for jhuming.
The author discusses in detail the main threats to indigenous communities. The migrants from Bangladesh and parts of India have occupied very large areas of indigenous lands. Takeover of lands for infrastructure, industry, military and other projects has also adversely affected the indigenous communities. Communal lands have been diverted to these projects without any form of consultation or legal process. The forest laws have been used to expand reserved forests across Assam, further depriving indigenous communities of their forest rights. Jhum cultivation has been declining, primarily as a result of restrictions placed on it by forest laws.
The South Asian Sensibility is a collection of some of the best articles published over the past 25 years in Himal Southasian, South Asia`s first and foremost regional news and analysis magazine. The essays are fine examples of long-form journalism, a form that Himal has pioneered in South Asia.
Intended to mark the 25th anniversary of the magazine, the book argues for a regional sensibility when looking at issues in the subcontinent. The effort, throughout, is to look at issues from a humanist and progressive viewpoint with a strong emphasis on human rights. The select articles, while discussing topics such as nationalism, regionalism, insurgency, human rights, social and cultural matters, reflect one common aspect that Himal has striven to promote throughout its existence, i.e., to view the entire South Asian region as a single, holistic entity even while respecting the integrity of its component parts.
Professor J.J. Anjaria presents a lucid overview of the role of the State in Hindu thought and its connection to the modern State. The starting point is Dharma, which in Hinduism furnishes the elegant conceptual framework to understand the universe and thereby also the nature of political obligation and the purpose of human activity. In particular Hindu thought sees the State and its rulers as subservient to Dharma.
Prof. Anjaria argues that in modern times State regulation of men and institutions based on birth power wealth or gender will block the fulfillment of the individuals true aspirations and the development of a harmonious society. He calls for a renewed concept of Dharma, which would allow the State, in a true democracy, to fulfill its crucial role of supporting individual human endeavor. This requires moving away from the old view of Dharma, which over the centuries came to be implemented as a rigid, static set of rules that sought to preserve a status quo. This work offers fresh insight into ancient Hindu political theory and a new perspective on Prof. Anjarias scholarship.
There are almost 200 million migrants in the world today. The majority of people leaving their home countries are migrating for work and almost of half of them are women. The contribution of these migrant workers to the world economy is undeniable, yet many work in some of the worst conditions, with no access to social protection and denied their labour rights.
With its mandate on all labour issues, the ILO has built up a wealth of knowledge on migration for employment, in terms of both original research and the rich experience of its Members – governments, employers and trade unions – in dealing with migrant workers. Drawing on these unique resources, this book offers a comprehensive and accessible overview of international labour migration and the ILO’s efforts to protect migrant workers through a rights-based approach.
This book gives new insights into the factors that motivate people to seek work outside their country of origin and the significant development effects on both origin and destination countries. Exposing the often limited access of migrant workers to their fundamental rights at work, the book describes in detail the international norms that have evolved to protect migrant workers and ensure decent work for all. It reflects on existing and potential international governance structures and addresses linkages between migration and development. The book reviews the ILO’s Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration and discusses its role in improving policy-making and upgrading international cooperation in the area of labour migration.
Appropriately Indian is an ethnographic analysis of the class of information technology professionals at the symbolic helm of globalizing India. Comprising a small but prestigious segment of India's labor force, these transnational knowledge workers dominate the country's economic and cultural scene, as do their notions of what it means to be Indian.
Drawing on the stories of Indian professionals in Mumbai, Bangalore, Silicon Valley and South Africa, Smitha Radhakrishnan explains how these high-tech workers create a "global Indianness" by transforming the diversity of Indian cultural practices into a generic, mobile set of "Indian" norms. Female information technology professionals are particularly influential. By reconfiguring notions of respectable femininity and the good Indian family, they are reshaping ideas about what it means to be Indian. The author explains how this transnational class creates an Indian culture that is self-consciously distinct from Western culture, yet compatible with Western cosmopolitan lifestyles.
She describes the material and symbolic privileges that accrue to India's high-tech workers, who often claim ordinary middle-class backgrounds, but are overwhelmingly urban and upper caste. They are also distinctly apolitical and individualistic. Members of this elite class practice a decontextualized version of Hinduism, and they absorb the ideas and values that circulate through both Indian and non-Indian multinational corporations. Ultimately, though, global Indianness is rooted and configured in the gendered sphere of home and family.